K: Memories of Black
by C0smic
Summary: Kana was a simple librarian who's world was in the tiny bookstore she owned, and she was completely content with it. That is, until a not so fateful meeting with the Red King throws her entire life into turmoil. But maybe Kana is not the simple librarian she claims to be. Maybe there's something hidden under her false smiles. And maybe every word that rolls off her tongue is a lie.
1. Beginning's Always End In Painful Goodby

**_Chapter 1_**

 _Beginnings Always End In Painful Goodbye's_

Kana's first encounter with Mikoto came as a result of a snowy-haired princess's hunger for books. You might say that Kana and Mikoto crossing each other's paths was more than just a coincidence. You might say their meeting was called upon by fate. However, if Kana heard you call their meeting fate, she would merely belt out in pearly laughter. She would call you a fool, for it was simply chance that her life would become intertwined with his. It was because the young Anna chose to enter the first bookshop which caught her eye that Mikoto and she first met.

It was late in the evening as the sun, just barely peaking over the horizon, blanketed her tiny shop in a comforting orange light. Kana's azure eyes lifted from the well-read book she had been perusing. Although she had read the book a hundred times over, she could never resist the urge to reread it. She swore up and down, that she knew every word of the book like the back of her hand.

Her reading was interrupted when the old doorbell of the quaint bookshop chimed. She was surprised to have visitors at this time, since she would be closing up shop in less than half an hour or so. She was even more baffled when her eyes bore witness to the quite unusual pair.

One was a tall, intimidating man with bright red hair, whose face seemed to be stuck in an expressionless scowl. He walked in, hand in hand with a petite white-haired girl. The girl's skin was nearly as pale as Kana's, and her face seemed to be just as expressionless as the large man she walked beside. The little girl was quick to stride down the aisles of books with the grumpy, thug-like man in tow.

A month had passed since the couple's initial visit, and now they were regulars. The two would always begin and end their visit the same way, and every time they came. They would enter the bookstore silently. The young girl floated through the aisles, seemingly touching every book her hands could reach. The man would trail behind her, and stare off into space, appearing to be disinterested. Then the two would leave empty handed just as the clock struck eight.

The couple's stopovers was frequent enough for it to become a routine to Kana. She would occasionally sneak glances at them from behind the pages of her book, only to return to reading. Yet, although Kana was accustom to them, she still continued to be perplexed by such an odd pair.

A small smirk graced her pink lips, "Somehow they seem to fit. How strange," Kana thought.

Kana had now lost track on the number of times the man and girl had come inside the shop. She had now grown tired of watching the girl walk up and down the aisles, picking out books only to put them back, with a slight frown upon her pretty face. It was then that Kana decided she had had enough. Closing her book with a soft thud, Kana got up from where she sat behind the counter. Kana approached the pair silently, and startled them when she spoke.

The man and young girl seemed genuinely surprised that Kana had even acknowledged them. It was as if it had almost become an unspoken rule that Kana and the couple would simply not bother with each other.

"Is there anything I can help you with?" Kana said, her voice soft, yet stern.

It was kind, the way Kana spoke, but when talking to the woman, one felt that Kana held knowledge beyond her years. She had been told on several occasions that she was a fearsome and intimidating woman, yet Kana never understood why. It wasn't as if she was ugly, for Kana was quite easy on the eyes with her wavy, long pink hair, and pale, blemish free skin. As a child her brother would tease her. Her brother would often say to her, 'Dear sister, a simple glance from you makes men piss their pants!'

The little girl looked up at Kana from beneath her long, snow white lashes. When the girl spoke, Kana had to lean in to hear her.

"No thank you," the girl said, her voice curt and quiet.

A small smile spread across Kana's face, "I see the way your eyes light up with certain books, and the way you roughly shove books that displease you back into a shelf. I'm guessing Poe to be one of your favorite authors?"

The girl blinked, staring back at Kana in astonishment. It was the first facial expression Kana had ever seen the girl make.

"How'd you know?", the girl said, and Kana chuckled

"The way a person carries themselves says a lot about the type of books they like. I've watched you a lot over the last month."

Kana paused and placed thoughtful, manicured index finger to her chin, "You are only a child, and yet—I can sense that you're not like other children your age. I can see a thirst for knowledge in your eyes. If I had to guess, I'd say Gothic literature fascinates you—correct?"

The girl merely furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, "But how did you—."

Kana interrupted her with a curt smile, "I know a fellow 'Poe fanatic' when I see one. In fact," Kana turned to walk down a different aisle, "I have just the perfect book for you!"

Her fingers glided over the spines of her precious books before settling on the one she was searching for.

"Ah, here it is," She exclaimed.

Kana pulled the book out, handing the book to the girl, "The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne. An amazingly complex piece of art I think you'll enjoy."

The girl stared at the book in wonderment and excitement.

"Come back when you're done reading it…uh," Kana trailed off, realizing that she had no clue what the girl's name was.

"Anna. Kushina Anna," the girl blurted.

"Well then, it's nice to meet you Anna-chan. My name is Kana. Oda Kana."

 _At the time, none of us knew—none of us knew that such a simple, harmless greeting would change all our lives forever. None of us knew of the suffering that was to follow. And for a good long while, we lived in ignorant bliss._

 _If only we could have lived in that ignorance forever._

* * *

 ** _I know this chapter was terribly short, but please bear with me! It's been about 3 years since I've written a fanfiction, and even though I enjoy reading them, I find it hard to motivate myself. I've had this story brewing in my head for literally months, but didn't think that the K fandom was a large enough fandom to get enough feedback from. But you never know until you try, alas this piece of work came about. I kept the chapter pretty short b/c I want to make sure enough people are interested in this before I continue, and I have BIG plans for this story. If my writing style seems decent enough to continue let me know! And criticism helps me greatly so don't be afraid to hold back._**

 ** _As always R &R please! xoxo_**

 ** _~C0smic_**


	2. Mediocre Shakespeare

**_I am soooo sorr_ y for the extremely late update. I wasn't quite confident in this story tbh. I didn't think many people had any interest in it since I only got 4 reviews, but then I saw that a lot of peopl _e had actually alerted and favorited it. Plus my editor read it and said it was great and encouraged me to keep going. She has revised the first chapter for me with minor grammatical changes. And although I should wait for her to edit this chapter before releasing it, I just can't wait. It's 4am in the morning and you guys deserve this. Literally bless charmingchrissy1 for her amazing review._**

 ** _Again, I apologize for any errors, I have been writing since 1am and I'm too exhausted to go over it, but I'll be sure to update the edited version sometime tomorrow. Thank you all for your patience~_**

 ** _Please review and don't just favorite or alert to the story. It's what keeps me going. Love you cuties xoxo_**

* * *

 _May 1st, 2012_

 _When I first met Suoh Mikoto, I only ever let my light shine through. I was a girl with messy pink hair, hiding behind it, her messy mind._

 _I told him everything I loved, nothing I hated. Everything ended in a giggle, or a short smile, my period ending to each sentence._

 _I told him my favorite songs, and the books I kept on my shelf closest to my bed. When I first met him, he saw no flaw in my eyes. I was a walking picture perfect woman._

 _I bit my tongue and spent nights spitting out blood._

* * *

 ** _Chapter 2_**

 _Mediocre Shakespeare_

When Anna had returned to the bookshop it had been a mere three days. Three days since they had spoken their first words to each other. Three days since Kana had handed the girl one of her favorite masterpieces. She had expected for the pair to return in another week or so, but when she saw a little snow white head peep through the front door of her store, she couldn't help but smile. And to no surprise, the little princess had dragged the grumpy lion along as well. But of course, they had still arrived at the time they always did. 7 o'clock.

Kana closed her book. "Anna, what a surprise to see you back so soon."

But instead of disappearing into the aisles like Kana had expected her to do, she timidly approached the counter.

"I had a hard time reading it," she confessed with red tinted cheeks.

Tilting her head, the pink haired beauty gave a small, teasing smile. "Giving up already?"

Seemingly irked by the teasing, Anna's expression turned into one of clear displeasure. Her small mouth upturned as her brows knitted together. It was the first time Kana had seen the girl show any display of clear emotion. "No," came her curt response.

Leaning back from her position on the counter, the librarian made her way around the wooden counter. Coming to a stop in front of the much smaller female, she leaned down with her hands on her knees. "Would you like me to help you then?" A look of uncertainty crossed Anna's features, causing a chuckle to escape Kana's lips. "I don't bite, I promise." Taking the book from the young girl's tiny hands, she eyed it with a certain look of wonderment. "Besides, this is an amazing piece of art that I would hate to see you pass up. You look like a young lady who loves a challenge, anyways." Straightening herself out, Kana began to turn and walk away with the book in hand. "That is, unless-

"I want to!" Anna blurted suddenly. "I want to read it," she repeated in a whisper.

"Great, then come right this way." Kana notice the girl eye the lion who always stood silently behind her. She knew that Anna was silently asking permission. She observed them in silence as he simply grunted, which Anna clearly took as a yes. The way the two communicated always amazed Kana. It was such a peculiar and endearing relationship. She couldn't help but find herself constantly studying the pair.

Kana lead them to a obscure corner of the bookstore where a coffee table and comfortable arm chairs rested. She took a seat quickly, but Anna hesitated like she always did. Smiling kindly, the librarian patted the seat next to her. "Sit."

As soon as Anna complied and found herself sitting comfortably in the chair, Kana had to bite her cheek to hold in her laugh. While most kids her age didn't seem to care about mannerism, Anna was the _exact_ opposite. She sat prim and proper, with her back straightened, hands folded neatly on her dress, and legs closed gracefully together. Once again, the young beauty never failed to fascinate Kana.

"Now tell me exactly what you don't understand."

And as Anna opened the book and Kana leaned in towards her, the two became completely lost in the world of love, tragedy, and adventure. And once again, Anna fascinated the woman before her. No, at this point Kana was completely _enthralled_ by the intelligent creature next to her. Kana had rarely been able to find someone who could speak on such an intellectual level about books with her. She had only once knew someone who's eyes shined like the stars when they talked about books. And yet here Anna was with her inventive theories and bright eyes, peeling off the words like skin. She was quick to catch on to things she didn't understand and bashful whenever complimented on her brilliancy. The two were so engrossed in their own little world that they had failed to notice the grumpy lion sprawled out on the floor in a deep slumber, nor how much time had flied. When Kana had finally taken notice of the time, it was already 10 o'clock- a full two hours past closing.

Standing up, she lifted her hands above her head and stretched. "Well look at the time. I think that's enough for today." She eyed the passed out man on the ground and giggled. "Your friend here certainly has had enough for today."

Anna closed the book in her hands, slipping off the couch to approach the grumpy lion and gently shake his shoulders. She whispered something, a name perhaps, but it was too quite for Kana to hear her. Eventually, he opened his eyes only to blink grumpily.

"You're done?" he asked, looking at the clock on the wall. Anna nodded. "Let's go then." He was quick to get up and lazily head through the bookshelves, towards the door.

Kana watched him with a certain amused glint in her eyes. It was the first words she had heard him speak since he had entered her bookstore a little over a month ago, and his voice had sounded exactly just as he looked- gruff, monotone, lazy, and manly.

The white-haired girl, bowed politely to the librarian and mumbled her thanks before following after her grumpy counterpart.

"I'll be here whenever you feel like coming back, little Cherry Blossom."

Anna seemingly stumbled over her feet as she turned back to look at Kana, her face lightly tinted red in embarrassment at the sudden nickname. "Tomorrow?" she whispered in hesitation after a moment of her awkward silence.

Kana simply smiled and waved before turning and disappearing into another aisle.

"You're always welcomed here, Anna."

* * *

 _I looked at him like fire._ _H_ e _was warm, red, scary, and ready to burn if touched. I couldn't have wanted him more in that moment. When he was laid on my bedroom floor in my tiny apartment above that worn down bookstore, flat out tired and hopeless. His signature grumpy frown missing from his handsome features, replaced with a foreign, solemn expression._

 _"We can't," he mumbled._

 _I didn't understand what he was talking about, all I could think about was him and how he was so close to me. When he was laying on that old and cheap bed, thinking about anything other than I. With hair in eyes, longing breaths and shining stars and his entire presence seeping out to the corners of the room. It was the perfect movie scene, the one where love creeps in and stays for a awhile. But it didn't make it's way past the flaming sorrow of his soul. It stopped, and melted in shaky hands. I couldn't have him. He didn't want me._

Kana woke with a start. Confused and bleary eyed, she squinted furiously to clear her vision. For a few minutes she just stared at her white ceiling, the sound of her uneven breathing the only noise in the room. To say that Kana was shocked and baffled was an understatement. She didn't dream much, and when she did it was nightmares that left her paralyzed in fear, hands clenched. So when that grumpy lion suddenly appeared in her dream like that, Kana was a bit taken aback. Kana didn't know his name, and while Anna had made good on her request and came to the store almost everyday, Kana had yet to learn the grumpy lion's name.

It wasn't as if Kana was intimidated by him- that was far from it. It was more like the man never really gave her the chance to speak. He screamed 'do not speak to me if you value your life'. And while most normal pedestrians always stood as far away from him as possible without making eye contact, Kana found herself simply perplexed by his very existence. After all, Oda Kana was a strange women. Kana stared at him, a lot. And she wasn't sure if the grumpy lion was just really oblivious to his surroundings, or ignoring her piercing blue eyes every day. Either way, Kana enjoyed watching him. Not only did his enigmatic personality amaze her, but Kana would be lying if she said he wasn't pleasing to look at. Because he was _very_ pleasing to look at. And when he fell asleep at the store every time Anna came to visit, Kana carefully inspected the planes of his face. She hadn't asked Anna for his name. Kana liked the mystery. It kept things interesting for her.

Kana often found herself guessing what his life was like out of the shop. It provided her entertainment when she had nothing to do but stare at a sea of bookshelves all day and hope for customers to take interest in her run down shop. _'He's probably a gangster. Like a mob boss or something. Definitely not an underling.'_ But then she would remember Anna and quickly change her mind. _'Their parents died so the grumpy lion had to take care of Anna all on his own. That must have been tough on them growing up. So he got into bad stuff just so he could protect her from the world and grew up rough.'_

Of course, Kana knew that her theories were all off the wall and laughable. But Kana spent her days with her nose buried in tales of fantasy. She was someone who was never afraid to let her imagination run wild. When Kana wasn't entombed in books, she was scrawling in the tattered journal she had been given on her thirteenth birthday, eight years ago.

When Kana had finally wiped the morning fatigue from her eyes and gotten out of bed, she opted to take a shower and skip breakfast. She was never hungry in the mornings anyways. Instead, she opted for changing into a white, frilly, noodle strap summer dress and headed deep into the city. Although Kana was a recluse who preferred the solitary of her quiet bookstore to the bustling streets of Shizume City, she was still a woman. A woman who liked pretty things and frilly dresses. And when the librarian went shopping, she went shopping to her hearts content.

Several stores and many hours later, Kana found herself overwhelmed with copious bags of clothing and various trinkets that she struggled to carry on her own. _"Maybe I went a little overboard.'_ But the thought was quickly dismissed when something shiny in one of the window display's caught her eye. Her azure eyes were so focused on the object of her attention that she failed to pay attention to where she was walking. Before Kana knew it, she had ran into something hard and fell back on her behind with an _'ompf'._

Blinking in surprise, Kana looked up to find the same grumpy man that had appeared in her dreams towering above her, staring down with piercing golden eyes. The sun reflected on his red hair, making it seem brighter and fierier than usual.

"Rooster."

And quickly, Mikoto's questioning stare turned into a biting glare. "Oi, who are you calling a rooster?"

It wasn't that Kana had meant to say that- she certainly didn't. It was that in her brief state of daze, _rooster_ had been the first word to pop into her mind when she saw his flaming red hair. And it was obviously something that had struck a cord in the man. The two had never exchanged even a brief greeting in the past month and seven days since he entered her bookstore, and the first word that came out of her mouth was an accidental insult.

And for one of the first times in her life, Oda Kana was utterly embarrassed.

For a moment time seemed to stop around the two. The grumpy man glaring down at Kana, and Kana staring blankly up at his appalling figure. And then, the tension was broken in a quick moment as Kana's voice chimed. "Hello to you too, grumpy lion." And with quick, graceful movements, she stood back up. And yet, she still found herself craning her neck to meet his gaze. It wasn't as if Kana was short. She stood slightly above average height with long, slender legs. But everyone seemed to dwarf in comparison to the grumpy man.

His right eye twitched in irritation. "Rooster?"

Kana nodded.

"Grumpy?"

Another nod.

"Lion?"

This time she gave him an amused smile, letting out her pearly laughter. "Well, I believe you have yet to introduce yourself." She pouted playfully. "It's been over a month and I still don't know your name. So I just made up some that suited you."

He blinked slowly at her, seemingly perplexed. Yet again, there was another moment of silence between them.

Kana cocked her head to the side. "Are you gonna tell me your name? Or should I just-

"Mikoto. Suoh Mikoto."

Kana smiled once again. "Well then, Mikoto-kun, it's nice to meet you. I'm Oda Kana, but you already know that." The rooster man, Mikoto, raised an eyebrow at her forwardness. "Sorry, I'm not good with formalities."

He simply shrugged, reaching down to help pick up the bags that had dropped in Kana's tumble to the ground.

"Ah, th-

But when Kana thought he would just hand them back to her, Mikoto had already wordlessly walked passed her, bags in hand.

"Mikoto-kun?" she called. White heels clacking against the pavement to keep up with him.

"If I let you carry these on your own you'll just run into someone else."

Kana laughed. "I promise you I'm not that much of a klutz."

He simply grunted in response. And Kana was totally okay with that.

And so the two headed back towards the shop, with Kana trailing close to Mikoto. And all the way she had on a smile that never quite reached her ears. They never did.


	3. Haru Haru

**_I'm soooo sorry for the extremely late update. I literally had such bad writers block that it was ridiculous. I didn't quite know what I wanted to do with this chapter while introducing Tatara, so I would write a bit before staring blankly at my screen. In my experience, I've found that forcing yourself to write when you can't isn't a good idea, so I put this chapter away until my muse came back to me. When it did, I ended up writing this chapter with such ease. The new season of K also gave me some inspiration as well._**

 ** _~c0smic_**

* * *

 _Chapter_ **** _3_

 _Haru, Haru_

The days and weeks all seemed to blur together in the presence of Anna and Mikoto. The young girl's thirst for knowledge had attracted her to Kana's store almost daily. And although Mikoto was as grumpy as ever, he didn't seem to mind being around Kana anymore. Nor did he no longer out right ignore her very existence. Kana found it easy to talk to him- well, have one sided conversations that is. Mikoto was still not a man of many words, and while Kana blabbered on about anything and everything, he simply laid down on the floor of the bookstore silently. And though he never muttered anything but an occasional grunt during these times, Kana had a feeling he was listening. Either way, she didn't care. She was just glad that she finally had someone to talk to.

It was these rare moments where Anna found herself perched daintily on the armchair with a book in hand, Mikoto napping on the floor, and Kana prattling to a man that she wasn't quite sure was awake half of the time, that the librarian actually felt as if she had friends. Though Kana was aware that 'friends' was the last thing the two thought of her. Anna was simply there because she liked books, and Mikoto- well, because he had to. Even if this 'friendship' was a delusion, Kana didn't mind. As long as it eased the loneliness, she could care less. It was the closest she had been to other humans in a _very_ long time.

Kana had grown so used to having the two enter the shop at 7 o'clock sharp, so when they didn't show up on time that Saturday night she was a little disappointed. When 7:30 rolled around and there was still no sign of the pair, she practically deflated.

 _'I might as well close the shop early. It's not as if anyone else will come by,'_ Kana thought glumly as she approached the door to flip the 'open' sign. But before Kana made it to the door, it opened. And to her delight, Anna stepped in, followed by-

Kana blinked, her eyebrows raised in surprise. The young brunette man behind Anna was _definitely_ not Mikoto. He was slim and definitely a lot shorter than the grumpy man who frequented her shop everyday, only standing about an inch above Kana's height of 5'7". His eyes were a soft brown and his left ear was graced by one hooped piercing.

"Sorry I'm late." Anna's shy voice snapped Kana out of her confusion. She hadn't realized that she was practically staring the poor man down.

Kana gave a light laugh, betraying the relief she felt at seeing the familiar face before her. "What are you apologizing for, little Cherry Blossom? I've said this before and I'll say it again, you're welcomed here any time."

Anna's cheeks simply tinted a faint pink in response.

"Ah.." Kana looked hesitantly towards the man, not quite sure how to address him. She had never seen Anna with anyone else besides Mikoto before.

She was met with a blinding smile and kind eyes. "You must be the Oda Kana-san that I've heard so much about. My name's Totsuka Tatara, it's a pleasure to meet you."

Kana was taken aback by his friendly nature- a complete opposite to Mikoto's. What surprised her even more was the fact that anyone had heard about her. "You've heard about me?"

Tatara nodded, placing a hand on Anna's head. "This little one asks about you every chance she gets. _'Mikoto, when are we gonna go see Kana-san again? Mikoto, I need a new book from Kana-san.'_ I was so surprised to see Anna so excited to be near anyone but Mikoto." He chuckled, "I guess you could say that I was dying to know who could possibly capture our little princess's heart."

By now, Anna refused to look at everything but the floor. Her face burning from the embarrassing teasing.

Kana would never admit that she felt a little more than flattered. Sure Anna had opened up to her as the weeks passed, but Kana never knew that the girl thought of her as more than just a librarian. It was nice to feel wanted. Something that the pinkette hadn't felt in a long time.

"It's nice to meet you," she said kindly. "I wasn't expecting anyone else but Mikoto to come, so forgive my lack of..." she trailed off, unsure of what to say.

Tatara simply smiled brightly. "Oh no, Oda-san. It's perfectly fine. I understand. To be used to Anna coming by with Mikoto for so long and then suddenly being surprised with such an unfamiliar face."

"Ah, just Kana is fine. I'm not too fond of honorifics."

Tatara nodded. "Well I'm glad to finally meet you, Kana. I feel as if we'll be seeing a lot of each other."

His response was met with a questioning look from the women.

Tatara blinked in slight surprise. "Oh, did Mikoto not tell you? Something important has come up so I don't think he'll be able to come by with Anna anymore. Of course, Anna would be upset if she wasn't able to go though, so I volunteered as replacement. I hope you don't mind seeing my face a lot." He rubbed the back of his head.

For a moment Kana was silent and didn't know what to say. Mikoto wouldn't be coming by for awhile? For some inexplicable reason, Kana's heart dropped. How could she describe this feeling? Disappointment? It wasn't as if her and Mikoto were close enough for him to feel obligated to share these kinds of things, but still, Kana wish that the man had informed her himself. Kana wasn't quite sure who she was supposed to prattle on about useless things while Mikoto was gone.

Luckily, the librarian found that her fears were all senseless, because while Anna sat in the chair she had silently claimed as her own, reading yet another fascinating book Kana had suggested, Tatara was all too keen to listen to Kana's prattling. Except this time it wasn't pointless or one sided, because Tatara was a very good listener. He would listen to Kana's words with such intensity as if they held such great importance that he would never forget them. He nodded his head at appropriate moments and smile. And he was all too happy to share his thoughts as well.

Overall, Tatara was a friendly guy who Kana didn't mind seeing at all. His presence was like a breathe of fresh air in her dull, repetitive life. He was charismatic and Kana never found their conversations tiresome. Every time him and Anna came to visit, he had something new to talk about. Tatara had told her that he was a lover of books as well, and that filming and music was a passion of his. He had even brought his guitar once to play a song for her. Music had been something close to Kana's heart when things were easier, but she had given it up so long ago that she wasn't even sure what it felt like to hold a guitar in her hand, or to open her mouth and sing freely. Because the freedom she had felt in the past was chained up and thrown at the bottom of an ocean she couldn't reach.

And it was in these moments with Tatara playing soft melodies, and Anna comfortably reading books that the small smile that graced Kana's lips widened just a little.

"Do you like Mikoto?" Tatara had blurted one day.

Any other girl would have become red in the face at such a question, but Kana did not get flustered or start incoherently stuttering. She simply gazed at Tatara with her soft, blank expression that never seemed to change.

"Ah, I don't mean it like that," Tatara corrected himself. "I mean, as a person. Do you like Mikoto?

She cocked her head to the side. "I find his company quite enjoyable, so I supposed you could say I find find him likable."

For a moment, Tatara just stared with such a perplexed look on his face. And then, he began to laugh loudly. His laughter rang throughout the quiet library.

"Tatara?"

He attempted to halt his laughter, wiping at the tears that had formed at the corners of his eyes. By now, Anna was watching with a curious expression, her reading disturbed. "I'm sorry, Kana. It's just that I've never heard anyone call Mikoto's company enjoyable besides Anna." He sat up, clearing his throat. "Usually when people see Mikoto on the streets they keep as far away from him as possible."

"He looks like a thug," Kana stated blandly.

"Does he?" Tatara chuckled. "Please don't misunderstand him, though. King is a real softie on the inside. He just doesn't know how to express himself very well.

"King?"

Tatara scratched the back of his head, something Kana had come to recognize as a habit of his he did when he was nervous. "Eh... it's nothing."

And once again, Kana was reminded of how much she really missed Mikoto. It was stupid of her. She didn't even know anything about him, and yet she could not deny the ache in her heart at his absence. It had been awhile since Kana had felt this ache. She thought that she had became numb to such a feeling a long time ago.

Kana wasn't sure when her world became so dull. Or yet, she wasn't quite sure how she had reached such a bleak point in her life. It was as if one day she woke up to find that she had been glued to the bottom of a dark pit. Then it was like suddenly color was splashed onto her bleak sky, and to be quite frank, Kana wasn't quite sure how to properly handle it. But she wouldn't have it any other way.

If anyone were to ask Kana what had changed everything for her, she would tell them about the window. She would tell them how she had waited, sitting on the windowsill with Tatara by her side. She would tell them how the summer moon had illuminated their figures in such a way that she felt as if the shadows cast upon them were dancing on their skin. She would tell them how with her back pressed against the cool glass, she had closed her eyes and listened with contempt as Tatara talked endlessly with such excitement in his voice- she did all she could do. She waited.

She waited for Mikoto to return.

It was those days he had been gone when she gazed up to the stars with such intensity, connecting constellations, that she thought to herself; _'I'm going to love this person, because even the sky looks different._

* * *

 ** _Reviews are greatly appreciated and inspire me to keep writing, so please take a minute out of your day to drop a comment :)_**


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